As expected, it was the PKK. The Kurdistan Workers' Party claimed responsibility for the October 23 attack on the headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (Tusas, Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TAI), located northwest of Ankara (see AVIONEWS). The attack, carried out by fighters who detonated explosives and opened fire with automatic rifles on the campus of the company that designs and produces civil and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other space and defense industry systems, resulted in the death of five people (in addition to two of the attackers), and the wounding of twenty-two others.

"The act of sacrifice in Ankara's Tai campus around 3:30 pm local time on Wednesday was carried out by a team from the 'Immortal Battalion", the PKK statement said, stressing that the terrorist act had been planned for some time and was not directly connected to current political developments in Turkey, referring to the apparent softening of Turkish authorities towards a negotiated solution to the decades-long conflict with the Kurds in the region.

Through the violent action, the PKK wanted to send a message of protest against what it describes as "genocidal policies, massacres and isolation practiced by the Turkish government", indicating a deep dissent towards the treatment of the Kurds.

Turkey's defense ministry said on Tuesday it carried out air strikes for the second consecutive night in northern Iraq, hitting 34 PKK targets in Hakurk, Gara, Qandil and Sinjar, "destroying caves, bunkers, shelters, warehouses and other facilities used by the terrorist organization". The strikes followed a security meeting that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired with key ministers and heads of the armed forces and intelligence agency in Istanbul on Tuesday, after his return from the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.